Santa Monica - North Beach

Revised April 6, 1998

Santa Monica, California's economic prospects, after it was
founded in 1875, were shaped by railroad interests that hoped that the
town would become the closest port to nearby Los Angles, only 14 rail
miles away. Senator Jones' Los Angeles and Independence Railroad went
bankrupt when his silver mines closed after prices plummeted during the
panic of 1876. By 1880 the town was in a deep business depression and
the population had bottomed out at 350 citizens.

However Santa Monica's location as a beach area close to Los
Angles helped revive it. The number of excursionists and summer campers
began to increase steadily. The Santa Monica Hotel reopened in 1882 and
J.W. Scott remodeled it and added a twenty room addition the following
year.

The economically depressed town revived after the Southern Pacific
became interested in the abandoned railroad and port to counter the
rival Santa Fe Railroad's attempt in 1885 to dredge a port in nearby
Playa del Rey. They had bought Jones' railroad in 1877 for $195,000,
less than one fourth the capital originally invested, but at the time
had no intention of competing with its port operations in San Pedro.

As real estate values surged, people and businesses began moving
back into Santa Monica. J.W. Scott purchased a tract of beach front
property between Railroad and Front Street, subdivided it into forty
lots and sold thirty lots for $30,000. He then used the money in 1886
to begin construction of a first class hotel called the Arcadia (on the
lot where the Loew's Hotel stands today).

When the 125 room hotel opened on January 25, 1887, it became the
finest seaside hotel in California. It was located on the edge of the
bluffs, just south of the railroad tracks that led to the old wharf.
The rectangular structure's five stories rose from the beach on the
ocean side, but was only three stories high at its inland entrance. It
had a dining room for 200 guests, a sitting room, parlor, ladies
billiard and reading rooms on the first floor. There was a ballroom and
conservatory on the lower level, and therapeutic salt water baths were
available.

The Arcadia Hotel had a unique Thompson Switchback Railroad which carried
passengers across the arroyo and back, on a short 500 foot undulating track
that used natural gravity. One end of the gravity railroad terminated at
the Arcadia Hotel and the other end on the north side of the Southern Pacific
tracks.

The Thompson Scenic Railroad transported visitors across
the ravine from the railroad station to the Arcadia Hotel. - 1887

The Southern Pacific and Santa Fe Railroads became locked in a
deadly rate war that year. Fares from Kansas City to Los Angeles,
normally about $100 began plunging. By March 6, 1887 the dropped to
$8, but rose to about $25 during the next few months. Easterners and
midwesterners, recognizing a bargain when they saw one, came to
California by the thousands. Los Angeles' population mushroomed to
80,000 that year and by summer 2000 to 3000 people a day were
discovering the pleasures of Santa Monica's North Beach tourist
facilities.

The announcement that the Southern Pacific would build a port in
Santa Monica temporarily fueled a real estate boom. But after the Santa
Fe's dredging equipment failed to dent a hard layer of clay in the
harbor they were building and abandoned the project, the Southern
Pacific scrapped plans for their project, too.

Tourism remained the town's primary business. The Southern Pacific
brought 200,000 tourists to Santa Monica in 1889, and thousands more
arrived by their own conveyance On one warm Sunday 12,000 visitors
arrived to watch a balloon ascension.

Los Angeles' rapid growth of trade in the 1880's let to a need for
an improved harbor in Southern California. Senator Jones and Santa
Monica civic leaders campaigned for a harbor nearby. When Congress
allocated $250,000 to begin work in San Pedro, the Southern Pacific
suddenly changed their mind, claiming that the area was too rocky. But
the real reason was the success of Santa Fe's Redondo Beach wharf which
opened in 1889.

Despite two Army Corps of Engineering reports favoring the San
Pedro site, the Southern Pacific began driving piles on July 25, 1892
on a mile long wharf at the foot of Temescal Canyon. They secured a
railroad right away along the Santa Monica bluffs to reach their wharf.
Port of Los Angeles' began operation on May 11, 1893.

The facilities at North Beach included a bath house, restaurant and bowling pavilion. - 1895

During the real estate boom that followed Senator Jones was
determined to make North Beach's tourist facilities the best on the
Pacific Coast. He formed the North Beach Bath House Company in December
1893, and with $50,000 began building the 450 x 150 foot structure
north of the pier. When it opened in the spring, the bath house
featured a large hot salt water plunge where swimmers were watched by
full-time attendants as well as spectators who filled the bleachers The
complex also featured an elegantly furnished parlor, ballroom, roof
garden, bowling pavilion, and the Pavilion Restaurant with two dining
rooms.

North Beach's virtual monopoly on Santa Monica's tourist
facilities began to weaken slightly in 1892 when Abbot Kinney and his
partner Francis Ryan bought ocean front property south of Strand
Street. They subdivided their land, that gently sloped to the sea, into
small lots for beach cottages. Then to lure potential property owners
to their Ocean Park resort, they built a golf course, race track,
tennis club and country club clubhouse. Several years later they built
a 1250 foot long pleasure and fishing pier over Santa Monica's sewer
outfall at Pier Avenue.

This competition encouraged North Beach developers to add
attractions to make the area Santa Monica's premier tourist area,
especially after Sherman and Clark extended electric trolley service to
the city in 1896.

Interior of the North Beach Bathhouse. - 1894

In 1898 the Santa Monica Beach Improvement Company was organized
with a capital stock of $100,000. It was a syndicate headed by the
owners of the Arcadia Hotel, Santa Monica Bank and the Pasadena and
Pacific Electric trolley company. The company's goal was to secure a
lease of as much beach frontage as possible, build a pleasure wharf at
the site of the old railroad pier, erect a plank boardwalk, and erect
attractive cottages and suitable buildings for beach activities.
However, after selling stock in the venture, the Southern Pacific
claimed an exclusive franchise at that site. Determined to proceed,
they did built their narrow 700 foot long pleasure wharf at a location
midway between the old railroad wharf pilings and their North Beach
Bath House. The company only built part of their planned boardwalk and
none of the planned structures. Others, however, built an auditorium
four years later to attract some of the numerous conventions that met
frequently in Southern California.

While North Beach was much more straight-laced than Ocean Park,
each summer a few carnival ride operators set up attractions on the
beach near the pleasure pier. At various times their were steam driven
Ferris wheels, a haunted swing inside a tent, portable merry-go-rounds
and a shooting gallery.

North Beach would soon lose its popularity after 1905 when Abbot
Kinney's nearby Venice of America resort captured the public's fancy
and imagination. His planned community complete with a network of
canals, 1700 foot long pleasure pier with restaurant and auditorium,
salt water bathhouse, and a Venetian styled business street, became
Southern California's most popular beach resort.